Halo 2: ODST
by Blacksmith99
Summary: This is a sequel to "Halo: A New Beginning" by Blacksmith99. An ODST team rescuing a hero, a traitor of the Covenant becoming an honored warrior, a sergeant fighting to protect Earth, a terrible infection spreading through the galaxy and the Covenant finding planet Earth. There is only one person that can fix all of this.
1. Chapter 1- Capture the Flag

**Author's note: This is a sequel to "Halo: A new beginning", so I strongly recommend that you read the story that comes before this one, otherwise, things will be hard to understand. That's all.**

Chapter 1- Capture the flag

-Do we have any contacts nearby, Romeo?

-No, sir.

-Great. Here's the plan: Romeo and Dutch, keep your asses over here and don't let anyone touch our flag. Mickey and I will look for any of the flags. Rookie, you stand in alert, if we find a flag, you will be our cover.

-Buck, this is the most cliché plan of all times. I think everyone is having the same plan. If this plan go wrong and we lose our promotion, I'll kill you with my bare hands. What makes you think that this plan will work? –says Dutch

-Dutch, why do you think this is a cliché plan? – asks Buck

-Because everyone use it.

-Why do everyone use it?

-Because…

-Because it works. Trust me, I never failed in training.

They are in a kind of forest, the trees block the sun, so they can't see much. Buck and Mickey start walking through this forest. Buck carries an assault rifle, while Mickey carries a battle rifle. Buck hears a reloading sound, he stops walking and shout:  
-MICKEY WATCHOUT!

Buck pulls Mickey out of his position. A shotgun shot can be seen hitting a tree next to them. Buck shoots in the place where the shot came from. He sees a body falling in the ground. He looks to Mickey and say:

-Watch your back, man! You almost got shot!

-Thanks, let's get out of here before more of them come. Which color is he?

-Yellow.

-Great, minus one of the yellow team.

Buck pulls his communicator off and asks:

-Dutch, are you there?

-Unfortunately, I'm still here.

-How is things going back there?

-Not good, we almost got shot.

-What happened?

-A guy from the red team tried to attack us. That's not all, Red team found the Covenant supply.

-Red team what?

-This guy that attacked us, he was using a Needler. If wasn't for Romeo, we would have lost our flag.

-Is that it?

-No, there is more. Rookie is hidden somewhere and we can't find him. I tried to enter in contact with him, but he doesn't answer.

-He never answers.

-What do you mean, sir?

-He is a quiet guy, he rarely say anything.

-Yeah, I know.

-Dutch, let me know if something happen, alright?

-Alright, Sir.

Mickey and Buck keep walking slowly, doing their best to be quiet. They see the blue team picking a Covenant supply. Buck whispers to Mickey:

-I'm going to throw a flashbang grenade and you will steal their Covenant supply. I'll distract them, you are going to pick any of the weapons and take them out by behind.

-Yes, sir.

Buck throw the flashbang grenade next to the Covenant supply, the blue team gets blind and confused. Mickey run, steal the Covenant supply and hide in the bushes. Buck starts shooting the blue team. Mickey is having problems in opening the Covenant supply. Buck's ammo gets low and he hide behind a tree, there is a lot of people from the blue team. Buck grab his communicator and say to Mickey:

-Come on! I don't have enough ammo and they are coming for me.

-I can't open the Covenant supply package! Hold on!

-I can't hold on! Just open the package!

Buck can feel the Blue team next to the tree that he is hidden behind. Suddenly, Red team show up and start shooting in the Blue team. Buck stealthily gets out of there and go next to Mickey. When he looks to Mickey, he sees that Mickey didn't open the package yet. Buck says:  
-Mickey, What the hell!

-I can't open it, I'm sorry. It is harder than it looks.

-Open a package? That is hard? How much do you bet that I can open this package in less than 1 minute?

-I bet 50 bucks.

Buck gets close to the package, press a button and the package opens. Buck looks to Mickey, which is surprised, and say:  
-I think I am a professional package opener.

-But…but…

-No but, Mickey. You own me 50 bucks.

-I'll take you down, you blue bastards! – shouts the leader of the Red team

-Not if we take you down first, red idiots! – replies the leader of the Blue team.

-Let's get out of here, Mickey. Let's go before things get worse.

Buck grabs a Covenant Carabine and Mickey grabs two plasma rifles. Mickey says to Buck:

-Red vs Blue, the fight of the most important colors of all times.

-Red vs Blue vs Yellow would be the colors 1st World War? – asks Buck, sarcastically

Buck and Mickey keep walking through the forest. They see the Red team's flag. Buck looks to Mickey and say:

-Mickey, we need to know if there is anyone hidden in there. How are we going to do this? Do you have a plan?

-I have a plan that I don't know if it's going to work. You can turn around while I pass in front of the flag. I think there is a sniper over there and a guy with active camo. Is that a good plan?

-It is, but…what if you get shot?

-It is a risk that I have to take.

-All I can wish to you is good luck.

-Hey, Buck…what about the Rookie, aren't you going to call him and say to him to come to our position?

-No, I think I'm going to take him out of the squad.

-Why?

-Because I don't trust him. He doesn't talk, he disappears all the time and he never help us in our missions.

-Alright then. Give a call to Dutch to see if everything is okay.

-Ok.

Buck pulls out the communicator and contact Dutch:

-Dutch, can you hear me?

-Yes, sir! – says Dutch, with a desperate voice

-Dutch…is everything ok back there?

-No, Sir. The Red vs Blue fight is getting closer to our flag and Rookie didn't show up yet.

-We're going to grab the Red team flag.

-Good luck, Sir. Dutch, out.

Buck turn around and gets behind the sniper, he sees Mickey making gestures, saying that he can shoot. Buck shoots in the head of the sniper, Mickey gives a positive gesture. Suddenly, Mickey gets attacked by an energy sword, he is hit in the back by someone from the Red team. Mickey falls on the ground and Buck starts shooting the guy with the energy sword, which dodges the bullets and hide behind a tree. Buck stealthily walks next to the flag, looking to the tree where the guy is hidden. The man with the energy sword runs for Buck and he disarm Buck. Buck sees that this guy is an ODST called Kenny. Buck kicks Kenny's belly and says:

-Kenny? Is that you? Buddy?

-I'll kick your ass, Buck!

Buck kicks Kenny's right arm, disarming him. Kenny punches Buck twice, making Buck fall on the ground. Kenny says to Buck:

-Why you kicked me out of the team, Buck? We were roommates…we were friends.

-It was necessary. I used to go easy on you, but you always screwed things up. I didn't want to kick you out of the team, but the rest of the team demanded your expulsion.

-I don't believe on you

Buck stands up and he is punched in the belly by Kenny. Kenny throws Buck in the ground and he starts choking Buck. Buck sees a little rock and he struggles himself to pick it up. He picks the rock and hit it in Kenny's helmet, which now have a crack. Buck stands up, grab Kenny's energy sword and stab Kenny's belly, making him faint. Buck throws the energy sword away, grab a SMG, pick up the Red team's flag and start running. Buck grabs the communicator and contact Dutch:

-Dutch, can you listen to me?  
-Yeah, where are you?

-I have the flag and I'm on my way to you guys.

-Be quick, Blue team, Red team and Yellow team are killing each other over here. How are things over there?

-Not good. I met Kenny and he took Mickey down.

-Alright, Buck. Good luck.

-Don't get shot until I get there!

-AAARGH! –shouts Dutch in the communicator

-Dutch, are you alright? Dutch? DUTCH!

Buck shuts the communicator down and keep running. While he runs, he see the fight between Red, Blue and Yellow team. Buck shoots someone from the Blue team in the back. Buck runs through the battlefield and when he is near to his base, he gets shot in the back. Buck falls on the ground and leave the flag next to the base. He sees both Dutch and Romeo in the ground, fainted. The green flag is intact. Suddenly, Rookie shows up with two SMG and starts shooting everyone, he doesn't miss a shot. Buck gets surprised and faint. Rookie picks the flag up and run to the green base. He puts the flag in the green base and a loud voice can be heard:  
"Green Team won. Simulation is over. All ODSTs, follow to the exit and drop your weapons. All fainted ODSTs will be taken out of field in a couple of minutes."

Rookie drop his weapon and walk to the cafeteria. He sees all the ODSTs complaining and whining about their loss. Rookie sit down in one of the cafeteria's chair and wait for his partners. An hour later, his teammates show up and sit with him in the cafeteria. Buck says:

-Good job back there, Rookie. I didn't know if I could trust you, but now I know that you are a good teammate. Just stop disappearing in the middle of the battle, we get worried. If wasn't for you, we wouldn't get that promotion. Want to say something?

Rookie keeps staring Buck without saying anything. Buck says:  
-Obviously not.

Buck sees a lot of people next to a television, watching something. Buck asks to his team:  
-What is happening? What are they watching?

-I have no idea. I bet no one in this team knows what is happening. –says Romeo

-Let's see what it is. –says Dutch

Buck and his team sees what the people are watching. They are watching Master Chief's funeral and they are listening to Lord Hood's speech:

"After Reach, we thought that Chief would be a spiteful man, but he didn't become a spiteful man. Instead, Chief became a man that don't usually express his feelings, but you could see behind that mask, what he was feeling. When I first saw him training, I knew he would be one of the bests Spartans of all. The thing that I want you people from all the world to understand is that he is not dead. Do you people know why? Because…because Spartans never die"

Buck gets confused and ask to one of the ODSTs that are watching the funeral:

-Who is the guy that died?

-It is a Spartan! He saved us from galactic termination, but he paid the price and died for it. He is a legend! No one knew he was alive!

-But the Spartans were terminated in Reach. So he saved us before Reach?

-No. He survived Reach and he saved us from termination. He is a hero, it is a shame that he is dead now.

-He didn't saved us from termination, the war isn't over yet. Did he killed any of the prophets? If he didn't, then we can still be terminated. –says Dutch

-No, but he destroyed this weapon that could destroy all the galaxy. They told me that the Covenant almost got their hands on this weapon. He didn't put an end on this war, but what he did is something stunning and heroic.

-Whatever. He is dead anyways. –says Dutch

-Would you show some respect, asshole. He saved us from dying.

-Asshole? Did you just called me asshole?

-Yeah, I did. Someone who can't show some respect is called an asshole.

-Kid, look me in the eyes and tell me that I am an asshole.

-You are an asshole. –says the ODST to Dutch, staring him.

Dutch gives a header on the ODST and they start fighting. Dutch punches the ODST in the belly and in the chest. The ODST takes out Dutch's helmet and punch Dutch's face. The ODST kicks Dutch, which falls on the ground, and starts punching Dutch's face. Dutch starts choking the ODST, the others ODSTs are shouting:

"FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT…"

Suddenly, a woman with black hairs show up and shout:  
-STOP THIS FIGHT! RIGHT NOW!

Dutch and the ODST stand up. Dutch's mouth is bleeding and the ODST's helmet is broken. This woman says:

-Alpha-Nine Team, follow me, please.

Buck, Romeo, Dutch, Mickey and Rookie follow this woman to an empty place and she says to them:

-I'm Commander Miranda Keyes and Lord Hood sent me for a special reason.

-What is this reason, pretty girl? –asks Mickey, which touches Miranda's hair

-Touch me again and I break all of your bones. –says Miranda

-Sorry, ma'am.

-Look, I don't like you all, but your skills are impressive. Buck is the only person that achieved the same high score of our best ODST: Ender. Dutch achieved the high score in bomb defusing and bomb setting. Romeo is one of the most precise snipers of the world. Mickey is has an impressive hand-to-hand combat score. Rookie is one of the best ODSTs in the world.

-Rookie? One of the bests? These words does not fit in the same phrase. –says Romeo

-Believe it or not, he is one of the best. He doesn't talk and he follows orders without questioning, he is the perfect soldier.

-That is unexpected. –says Buck

-As I was saying, Lord Hood have a special mission for you. Tomorrow, go to the station and get aboard in the cruiser to Cairo Station and follow to the ceremony. After the ceremony, you just need to wait for orders.

-Sir, yes Sir! –says all the ODSTs, less Rookie

Miranda gets out of that place and the rest of team goes to their bedrooms to sleep. When they wake up, Kenny shows up in front of the team's bedroom and say:

-Congratulations for the victory yesterday. You all deserved it. Buck, can I talk to you for a minute?

-Yeah, sure.

Buck and Kenny goes away from the rest of the team and Kenny says:  
-Hey, I wanted to say sorry for yesterday. I was a jerk back there, I just couldn't handle the fact that the team was better without me.

-You don't need to be sorry, I was a bit aggressive and insensible.

-Now, I'm going to say something that can make you a bit angry. I'm back on your team.

-What? Is this a joke?

-No, Lord Hood wants me to go with you in this "special mission". I'm back on the team for this mission.

-What…I'm not angry, I'm confused.

-Everything is going to be cleared at the Cairo Station.

-You're going with us?

-Yes, the cruiser leaves in one hour. That is the time you have to lunch. See you there, buddy.

Kenny leaves and Buck stills paralyzed and choked by the news. The rest of the team gets close to Buck and ask:  
-Buck, are you alright? –asks Mickey

-Kenny is back in the team.

-What? –says Mickey, Dutch and Romeo

-We have to do this "special mission" with Kenny.

-That is really unexpected. –says Romeo

The team wait for an hour and go to the hangar, where they get aboard on the cruiser to Cairo Station. Their travel takes 20 minutes and they reach Cairo Station. A marine calls for them:

-Alpha-Nine Team! Alpha-Nine Team! Alpha-Nine Team!

-We're here! –says Buck, when he gets close to the Marine.

-There is one missing. –says the Marine

Kenny shows up, the team stares Kenny and he says to the Marine:

-I'm here.

-Alright, everyone is here. My name is Carlos and I'm going to lead you to the ceremony. Follow me, please.

The team follows Carlos and he shows them their seats, next to the stage where the ceremony is going to happen. There are lots of Marines sitting on this room. Lord Hood shows up in the stage and he is applauded by the Marines. Lord Hood starts talking:

-Tonight, I want to honor some of the people that were important to us. Those people gave their lives to destroy the Halo. To honor one of the most important of all of them, I'm going to call three people to the stage: Miranda Keyes, Chips Dubbo and Sergeant Johnson.

Miranda, Chips and Johnson go on the stage and they are applauded by the Marines. Lord Hood says:

-Miranda, your father, Captain Keyes, was a key part on this. Without him, Chief would not have survived and the Halo would have been activated. You'll receive this medal for him. He was important to us, I'm sure he was important to you.

Lord Hood gives a medal to Miranda and she hold her tears. Lord Hood gets close to Chips and say:  
-Your great strategies in combat saved the galaxy from termination. You may not have a high class in the UNSC, but that doesn't make you less important. You are important, you will always be important.

Lord Hood gives a medal to Chips, which starts crying. Lord Hood stands next to Johnson and say:

-Johnson, you led your team with honor. You have seen lots of friends dying, but you've never gave up. This medal is nothing compared to your importance to the whole world.

Lord Hood gives a medal to Johnson. All the Marines applaud and get out of the room. Buck whispers to Dutch:

-I thought that this was going to be a long, boring and emotional ceremony. Instead, this was a quick and not emotional ceremony.

-Probably they must be in a hurry, so they need quick speeches, which aren't emotional at all. –replies Dutch

-Gentleman, can you please follow me? –asks Lord Hood, when he gets near to them

They follow Lord Hood to an empty room. Lord Hood starts talking:  
-Look, I'm in a hurry, so I'm going to be fast. I'm sending you all to Reach for a special mission. A rescue mission.

-Who are we going to rescue? –asks Kenny

-Master Chief.

-Wait a minute, wasn't this guy dead? –asks Mickey

-We found signal of Master Chief in Reach, maybe he isn't dead. That's why I'm sending the best of ODSTs. My son will lead you to Chief.

-Who is your son? –asks Buck

-Kenny. Didn't you know that!? You were roommates and you didn't know that?

-No, this is a big surprise to all of us.

-Well, you'll get aboard on a cruiser called SS Normandy, you will grab a pelican and fly your way to Reach. Find Master Chief, give us a signal and we will get you. It isn't a hard mission.

-Alright, we are going to do it. –says Buck

-Good luck. Do you need something?

-Yeah, I need something.

-What is it?

-I need a weapon.


	2. Chapter 2- The Arbiter

Chapter 2- The Arbiter

-How did you end up on this prison? Treason? Heresy? –asks one Elite

-None of these. –replies Thel 'Vadam

-What did you do then?

-I failed with the Covenant. I failed with my mission. I failed with my honor.

-What sentence they gave to you?

-They didn't give me any sentence.

-Why not?

-Because my judgment didn't happened yet.

-It didn't happened yet? Good luck for you.

-I am important to the Covenant. I am a Supreme Commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice, I killed billions of humans during my years.

-What happened at your mission that you failed?

-I failed in protecting the Halo. I failed to protect the Great Journey.

-What's your name?

-Thel 'Vadam.

-Thel 'Vadam, you are a dead Elite. They will torture you to death and your body will be exposed in public. These are your last moments.

-Why do you think that?

-Because I have been in a judgment before. The council will call you heretic, traitor, for anything you do. I have been tortured before, dying doesn't look so bad after being tortured by a Brute. I saw the bodies of my dead partners being exposed in the middle of High Charity. Enjoy this last moments, you will miss them during your torture.

-What did you do?

-I refused to kill a human.

-This is treason! The humans are insignificant and they don't have honor. Why did you spare them?

-I spared them because like us, they are living beings. No living being, from good to evil, must be terminated.

-Would you spare the Flood?

-No, I wouldn't.

-So, tell me the truth, why didn't you kill that human?

-Because I didn't want to kill him! He was innocent, he didn't do anything! He had a family and he was scared!

-The humans aren't innocent!

-Some of them are innocent!

-The decision of the prophets was wrong, they should have tortured you to death.

-Your prophets aren't innocent either. They would do anything to have what they want. They are as bad as the humans you talk about.

-LIAR! TRAITOR! –shouts Thel 'Vadam

Thel starts choking that Elite in the same cell that he is. Thel have his armor and the other Elite doesn't have an armor. The Elite says:  
-Search deep…down there…you…know it…is…true.

-IT ISN'T! STOP LYING, TRAITOR!

The Elite dies, Thel stands up and shouts very loud. Tartarus, the chieftain of the Brutes, show up in front of Thel's cell and say:

-It is time for your judgment, you incompetent Elite. Let's go.

Tartarus opens Thel's cell and pull him away from the cell. Tartarus hit Thel's head and say:

-Walk, you disgusting maggot.

They walk through High Charity, where the Grunts, Jackals and Elites are booing Thel. They throw rocks at Thel and call him a "You useless traitor!" and a "Heretic". He finally gets close to three prophets: Prophet of Truth, Prophet of Regret and Prophet of Mercy. The council is booing Thel. Prophet of Mercy shouts:  
-ORDER! ORDER ON THIS COUNCIL!

-It is time to start the trial of Thel 'Vadam. Of all your crimes against the Covenant, the less disgusting was your decision to spare a human's life. Why did you spare this human life? –asks the Prophet of Truth

-I owed that human. He saved my life and I gave him my retribution. The Covenant's motto is: "A true member of the Covenant always fulfills his word".

-You have a point in following the Covenant's motto, but the humans are our enemies and we only use our motto with honored species. Your sentence for the human's life will be 500 years in the prison. Now let us talk about the Halo. How many ships were there?

-There was only one ship.

-One. Are you sure?

-Yes. They called it the SS Normandy.

-Why was it not destroyed with the rest of their fleet? –asks the Prophet of Mercy

-It was the first time that we saw this Halo, when the human ship got near to it, we were in the other side. When we got near to the ship, it was too late, they already have ran away.

-When you first saw Halo, were you blinded by its majesty? –asks the Prophet of Regret

-Blinded?

-Paralyzed? Dumbstruck?

-No.

-Yet the humans were able to run away, land on the sacred ring and desecrate it with their filthy footsteps!

-Noble Hierarchs, surely you understand that once the parasite attacked-

Thel is interrupted by the Council, which is muttering him angrily. The Prophet of Mercy bangs his fist down on his chair and shouts:  
-THERE WILL BE ORDER ON THIS COUNCIL!

-You were right to focus your attention on the Flood. But this Demon, this "Master Chief"… -says the Prophet of Truth

-By the time I learned the Demon's intent, there was nothing I could do.

The council is angry, they are speaking to each other, saying that Thel is a traitor. Tartarus laugh with the Council's reaction to Thel's crimes. The Prophet of Regret, worried, whispers to the Prophet of Truth:  
-Noble Prophet of Truth, this has gone on long enough. Make an example of this bungler. The Council demands it!

Truth makes a sign of silence with his hand. The council stops talking and pay attention to what Truth wants to say:

-You are one of our most treasured instruments. Long have you led your fleet with honor and distinction. But your inability to safeguard Halo was a colossal failure.

One of the Prophets in the Council stands up and says:

-Nay, it was heresy!

The council yells angrily on Thel. He gets angry and say to the prophets:

-I will continue my campaign against the humans!

-No, you will not. –replies Truth

Tartarus makes a sign to two Brutes, which grabs Thel's arms and starts dragging him out of there. The Prophet of Truth says to Thel before he leaves the Council's Courthouse:

-Soon, the Great Journey shall begin. But when it does, the weight of your heresy will stay your feet, and you shall be left behind.

The Brutes take Thel back to his cell. They throw him inside the cell and say:  
-Wait there while we prepare your sentence.

Thel sits inside his cell, regretting his past actions. He says to himself:  
-Why didn't I kill that human? It would have been better for me. I wouldn't be trapped inside this cell.

He looks to his right and see the ghost of the Elite that he killed on this same cell. Thel says to this "ghost":

-I must be crazy! You are dead!

-So are you. –replies the ghost

-I have to be crazy, there are no such things as ghosts.

-Indeed you are. I am here to represent your past actions, as saving the human's life and failing in protect the Halo. You regret doing all of them, but you can't change the past, so deal with it. I'm not a ghost, I am your consciousness.

-I can't change the past, but I can change the future!

-No, you can't. You are doomed, there is no way out of this. You will always be known as a traitor. This is your legacy.

-No, this won't be my legacy. It is not over yet!

-You can trick yourself, but you can't trick your mind. We both know that there is no way out of this situation, so enjoy your last moments.

-You're right. I am a dead Elite by now. I failed with my honor, I don't even deserve torture to death.

-You know what is funny? Deep down, you know that you killed me for no reason at all. You spared a human's life and you killed me for sparing a human. Such a dirty hypocrite. Why have you killed me Thel?

-I killed you because…- he is interrupted by the ghost

-Because you wanted to discount your anger on me. Am I right?

-No…NO…you aren't! YOU AREN'T!

-Hey you crazy idiot! Stop talking to yourself! Shut the hell up and let me sleep! –shouts a Jackal locked in a cell

-Shut up you, filthy mercenary. Your lack of faith and greed for money made you end up on this cell. Soon enough, the Council will see that your species are dishonored and they will be expelled from the Covenant.

The Jackal put his head out of his cell and shouts to Thel:

-When I get out of this cell, I will rip your guts off and I'll make you eat them. Soon enough, you will regret shouting to me. YOU WILL REGRET!

-Stop talking prisoner! Otherwise, I'll turn you into my dinner. –says Tartarus, which just have reached the prison room.

-Yes, sir. –says the Jackal, sarcastically.

-Thel, let's go.

Tartarus makes a sign to two Brutes, which open Thel's cell and take him out of there. They start taking him through High Charity. Thel gets surprised when he sees that there is no one in the streets. They take Thel to the Torture Square, where everyone is waiting for his torture. All the Grunts are shouting:  
-He-re-tic! He-re-tic! He-re-tic!

Thel gets surprised with the amount of Covenant species that came only to watch his torture. Tartarus smiles and say happily to Thel:

-You've drawn quite a crowd.

-If they came here to hear me beg, they will be disappointed. –says Thel that spits on Tartarus' face

Tartarus clean his face, laughs a little bit and asks Thel:

-Are you sure?

The Brutes lock Thel in two electric chains, which start electrocuting him. He screams in pain, while the crowd cheers for more torture. Tartarus starts speaking to the crowd:  
-He is a traitor, a heretic. He just ignored everything that the Covenant taught him. He stopped the Great Journey from happening, there can be no greater heresy! Let him be an example for all who would break our Covenant!

Tartarus makes a sign to two Brutes, which pulls out Thel's chest armor and starts taking his armor out of his body. When Thel is completely naked, Tartarus pulls out a hot iron hammer and hits him with the hammer. Tartarus hits Thel chest and belly several times and in every time, Thel shouts louder and louder in pain. After holding so much pain, he finally faints, but the crowd thinks that he is dead, so they cheer a lot. Tartarus give another sign to the two Brutes, which starts carrying Thel's body. They carry the body through High Charity. When they are in the prison block, one of the Brutes says:  
-How much further must we heft this baggage? Any cell will do.

They pass in front of a cell full with angry Jackals. The second Brute says:

-Why not toss him in with this lot? They could use the meat.

-Them? What about us? My belly aches…and his flesh is seared, just the way I like it.

-Quiet! You two whimper like Grunts fresh off the teat. He's not meant for the jails. The Hierarchs have something special in mind. –says Tartarus

They take Thel to the Mausoleum of the Arbiter, where the Prophet of Truth and Mercy are waiting for him. Tartarus kneels for the Prophets and say:

-Noble Prophets of Truth and Mercy. I have brought the incompetent.

-You may leave, Tartarus. –says the Prophet of Truth

-But…I thought- Tartarus is interrupted by Truth

-And take your Brutes with you.

Tartarus, surprised, stands up and say to his Brutes:

-Release the prisoner!

The Brutes stop carrying Thel and throw him in the ground. He makes an effort to kneel for the Prophets. Tartarus and his Brutes leave the room. The Prophet of Truth says:  
-The Council decided to have you hung by your entrails and your corpse paraded through the city. But ultimately, the terms of your execution are up to me.

-I am already dead. –says Thel

-Indeed. Do you know where we are?

-In the Mausoleum of the Arbiter.

-Quite so. Here rests the vanguard of the Great Journey. Every Arbiter, from first to last. Each one created and consumed in times of extraordinary crisis.

-The Taming of the Hunters, the Grunt Rebellion. If weren't for the Arbiters, the Covenant would have broken long ago! –says the Prophet of Mercy

-Even on my knees, I do not belong in their presence. –says Thel

-Halo's destruction was your error, and you rightly bear the blame. But the Council was... overzealous. We know you are no heretic. You shall restore your honor, by following our orders without questioning it. For now, we have a specific mission for you. –says Truth

-What use am I? I can no longer command ships, lead troops into battle- he is interrupted by Truth

-Not as you are, no. But become the Arbiter…and you shall be set loose against this heresy with our blessing.

-What of the Council?

-The tasks you must undertake as the Arbiter are perilous, suicidal. You will die, as each Arbiter has before you. The Council will have their corpse. –says the Prophet of Mercy

Truth press a button and the Arbiter's armor shows up in the middle of the room. Thel, limping, walks to the armor and gears up. He breathe hardly and put the Arbiter's helmet. He turns around, look to the Prophet of Truth and asks:  
-What would you have your Arbiter do?

-In the remains of the sacred ring, a "demon" created a Heretic Army. He deluded them with foolish lies. Now he leads an army against the Covenant and we must take down as fast as possible. If we don't take him down now, he will be as big as us. What's your plan, Arbiter?

Thel grabs a Carabine and says with conviction:

-My plan is making this "demon" regret.

-Regret what? –asks Truth

-Regret living.


	3. Chapter 3- Cairo Station

Chapter 3- Cairo Station

-Johnson, ceremony room in 5 minutes. –says Chips

-Yeah, I know.

Johnson grabs a kind of robotic arm. He places this robotic arm in his missing arm place. He grabs a tobacco with his normal hand and light it up with his robotic arm. He says to himself:  
-This is robotic arm isn't that bad after all. I think that in a short period of time, I'll get used to it.

Johnson wears a white suit and a commander's hat. He puts his pistol on his belt and gets out of the room. He walks to the ceremony room. When he gets there, he sits on his chair and wait for the ceremony. Lord Hood shows up in the stage, Johnson and the Marines applaud for him. Lord Hood looks to everyone and starts talking:  
\- Tonight, I want to honor some of the people that were important to us. Those people gave their lives to destroy the Halo. To honor one of the most important of all of them, I'm going to call three people to the stage: Miranda Keyes, Chips Dubbo and Sergeant Johnson.

Johnson stands up and walk to the stage, while the Marines applaud for him. He stands next to Chips and Miranda in the stage, waiting for his medal. Lord Hood look to Miranda and says:  
\- Miranda, your father, Captain Keyes, was a key part on this. Without him, Chief would not have survived and the Halo would have been activated. You'll receive this medal for him. He was important to us, I'm sure he was important to you.

Lord Hood gives a medal to Miranda. He gets near to Chips and starts talking:  
\- Your great strategies in combat saved the galaxy from termination. You may not have a high class in the UNSC, but that doesn't make you less important. You are important, you will always be important.

He gives a medal to Chips, which starts crying. Johnson thinks to himself:

"What a fagot. Ok Johnson, your turn. You are looking nice, there is no way this can go wrong. Don't cry, you're not a fagot like Chips. You can do this, Johnson. I'm so awesome"

Lord Hood gets close to Johnson and says:

\- Johnson, you led your team with honor. You have seen lots of friends dying, but you've never gave up. This medal is nothing compared to your importance to the whole world.

He gives a medal to Johnson, all the Marines applaud and get out of the room. Johnson thinks to himself:

"Was that it? I was the most important guy on this mission and he just said a few words? This can't be possible! Something isn't right…but what is it?"

Lord Hood gets out of the room with an ODST squad. Miranda leave the room with a friend of her father. Chips and Johnson leave the room, where there are a lot of Marines applauding and some cameras. Chips gets uncomfortable with these cameras and says to Johnson:

-You told me that wouldn't be any cameras.

Johnson looks to Chips horrible marine suit and says:  
-And you told me you were gonna wear something nice! Folks need heroes, Chips. To give them hope.

Johnson takes off his hat to adjust his hair and then put it back. He says to Chips:

-So smile, would ya? While we still got something to smile about!

Suddenly, the station starts shaking and the lights start flashing. When the shaking is over, a minute of silence happens and a voice can be heard through all the station, saying:

-WARNING! WARNING! Move to your defense positions. This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill!

Red lights start flashing and despair takes control of the station. Johnson and Chips run to a window and see lots of Covenant cruisers coming in their way. Johnson looks to Chips and says:

-Now things got tense.

They run to the armory and grab some weapons. Johnson grabs a battle rifle and Chips grab two SMG. Another shaking happens in the station, the Covenant cruisers hit the station and now they are getting in. Chips says to Johnson:

-We have to find a pelican and get the hell out of here! This station is compromised!

-A pelican? The hangar is all the way across the station! There is no way in hell that we are going to get in there alive.

-Let us die trying if that is the case.

-That's how you have to think, son. Let's do it!

They get in a dark room, where they see dead human bodies. They turn on their flashlights and they hear something. Two Grunts show up and start shooting them. Johnson hide behind a pillar and Chips hide behind a chair. The Grunts are waiting for the humans to show up. Chips appears and shoots one of the Grunts. When the other Grunt is ready to shoot Chips, Johnson shows up and punch the Grunt with his robotic arm. The Grunt flies away across the room. Johnson looks to his robotic arm and say:  
-Holy cow! This arm is awesome, I'm going to chop my other arm off, and then I can have two awesome arms.

Chips points to Johnson's normal arm and ask:  
-Who is calling you?

Johnson looks to his normal arm and there is a communicator. A classified number is calling Johnson, which picks up the call and ask:  
-What do you want, Cortana?

-How did you…whatever, I need you to do something.

-I'm trying to get my ass out of this station. What do you want?

-You need to activate the station's cannons. Lord Hood already left and forgot about the cannons. I'm not in the station, I'm in Reach with some ODSTs.

-You are making things worse for me, lady.

-If you don't activate those cannons, things will be worse to everyone in the planet. I'm losing my signal, Johnson.

-Cortana, I don't know, what if don't work?

-Just do it!

He loses Cortana's signal, look to Chips and say:

-Change of plans. Now we have to go on the control station and we need to activate those goddamn cannons. After this, we go to the hangar and get out of here. Are you okay with it?

-What the hell? Of course I'm not okay with it! We're going to die if we do this! This is madness!

-Look here, boy. If we don't activate those cannons, Earth will suffer even more. Those cannons will destroy at least one Covenant cruiser. Earth is more important than us, so shut the hell up and deal with it. Are you okay with it?

-Yes…sir.

They keep running through the station and they stop near to a courtyard. They see 5 Elites and 3 Brutes in this courtyard. Chips whispers to Johnson:

-There is no way that we are going to get through this!

-Oh boy, there is.

Johnson and Chips throw grenades next to them. They wait and the grenades blow up. They look in the courtyard and there is only one Brute left. This Brute gets angry and starts running to Johnson and Chips. He punches Chips in the face, Johnson punches the Brute with his robotic arm. He stops, looks to Johnson and laugh. He grabs Johnson's left leg and throw him all the way across the courtyard. When he is about to faint, he stands up and shoots right in the Brute's head, killing him. Johnson walks to the fainted body of Chips and sit next to it. Johnson is all sweat. He breathes for a moment, stands up and kicks Chip's body, waking him up. Johnson says:

-Wake up, lady. We have a lot of work to do yet.

-What happened?

-A Brute punched you right in the face, K.O. You felled in the ground like a bomb.

-What did you do?

-I punched that bastard with my robotic arm, didn't knock him down like you, but the mark is still in his face.

-Alright, Rocky Balboa. I know that you shot him down, just wanted to see how idiot you are.

-Chips…shut the hell up.

-You know is true.

-Yeah, it's true. Are you happy? Asshole…Although, I liked the Rocky Balboa reference, that movie was fantastic. Can you believe that this movie is a reboot from another movie of the 20st century?

-Are you serious?

-Yeah. Let's focus on the mission, alright?

-Yes, sir!

-Now keep your feet moving!

They get out of this courtyard and walk until they get in the dormitories. All the lights are off, there is a lot of dead human bodies. They can see some Elites and some Jackals in the dormitories. Johnson whispers to Chips:  
-Don't turn on your flashlight!

-Why not?

-Because they will see us. We need to go through this dormitory without them seeing us. Now, stay down and be as quiet as you can be!

They stay down and start walking through this dormitory. The Elites start smelling something they start walking on the dormitory, looking for something that they are smelling. Chips stumbles on a dead human body and make a lot of noise. All the Covenant in the room hear it and run to the place where the sound came from. A sniper Jackal puts Covenant night vision goggles and starts walking through the room. Johnson quickly pulls Chips out of the dead body. He whispers to Chips:

-Run, you idiot, just run.

Both Chips and Johnson starts running, the Elites aren't fast enough to reach them. The sniper Jackal shoots Chip's belly, hurting him badly. They get out of the room and hide behind a pillar. No one comes out of the dormitory room and they get relief. Chips looks to Johnson and says:

-We almost died, thank god we esca- he is interrupted by Johnson, which punches him in the face with the normal arm

-That was for you being stupid. –says Johnson

Chips puts his hand on his face. Johnson looks to Chip's belly and see a lot of blood coming out of it. He says:  
-Chips, your belly! What happened?

-I don't know, I think they shot me. Oh god, now I'm starting to feel the pain.

-Alright, alright. Let's go to the control room and then we find something to help you.

-Go to the control room? Are you nuts? I'm going to die, there isn't much time, and we have to go to the hangar. Look, the hangar is close to us, there is time to help me.

-Chips, I care for you, but I care even more for Earth. If we don't activate those cannons, Earth isn't going to stand a chance. Now let's go, you selfish idiot.

-You know what? Go to hell, Johnson. I'm sick of you calling me an "idiot", a "retard" and an "asshole". I'm finding my own pelican, because I want to survive. Goodbye, asshole.

Johnson sees Chips going to the hangar through other corridor. Johnson says:

-Alright, you asshole. I don't need you anyway. You either die as a hero or you live enough to become the villain. I'm going to die with honor and distinction, while you are going to live as a coward and an asshole.

Johnson walks through the control room's corridor. When he is in front of the control room's door, he says to himself:

-You don't need him, Johnson. He is just a selfish asshole. You can do this alone, you know that.

He puts a red headphone in his head and starts playing "Blow me away". He smiles, put a tobacco on his mouth and say:

-Showtime.

He lights up the tobacco, reload his battle rifle and open the control room's door. There is five Grunts, two Sniper Jackals, three Brutes and a Chieftain Elite, which becomes invisible. Johnson shoots the Jackals and gets shot by one of the Grunts. He throws a grenade next to the Grunts, blowing them up. Johnson gets some cover behind some controls, while the Brutes look for him through the room. He quickly shoots one of the Brutes and get some cover again. He check his ammo and there is one shot left. He aims in the second Brute's head and shoot it, killing him. Johnson throws his weapon away and shout to the last Brute:  
-Hey, ugly monkey, I'm right over here.

The Brute turns around and shout to Johnson. Both of them start running to each other, both of them shouting. Johnson punches the Brute with his robotic arm and dodge the Brute's attack. He pulls out a plasma grenade and plant it on the Brute. Confused, he looks to Johnson, which is laughing at the monster's disgrace. The Brute blow up, Johnson takes off his headphone and go to the central control. He starts pressing some buttons, then a voice can be heard:

"Station cannons will start working in 1 minute. Countdown can be manually stopped."

Johnson hears a strange noise behind him. He turns around and don't see anything. Suddenly, an Elite shows up and he holds Johnson. The Elite puts his energy sword next to Johnson's neck. Johnson says to the Elite:

-Do it. Kill me, I'll die with honor at least. Do you have the balls to do it or you are to coward to do it so?

When the Elite is going to cut Johnson's neck, a shot noise can be heard and the Elite's body fall on the ground, dead. Johnson looks behind the Elite and sees Chips with a shotgun. Johnson hugs Chips and says:

-Chips, I…know that you missed me, that's why you came back.

-Yeah, I kind of get used to you calling me a "stupid idiot".

-You are my favorite stupid idiot.

The control room's voice says:

"Cannons will be activated in 30 seconds."

Johnson starts running and says to Chips:

-Let's go, I think that there is still time to get out of here.

They run through the hangar's corridor. When they get there, they see only one pelican, which is being guarded by a group of Elites. Chips throw a grenade in the other side. The Elites hear the noise and they run to the place where the grenade blew up. Johnson and Chips quickly run to the pelican. Johnson goes on the front seat and Chips goes on the back seat. They turn on the pelican and they get out of the station through the hangar. They see the Covenant ships being shot by the cannons. Johnson flies through a spaceship battlefield. He receives a call in his communicator. He answers it and say:

-What do you want, Miranda? I'm in the middle of this spaceship battlefield!

-Johnson, you have to land at New Mombasa. The Covenant is destroying the city! Load your guns and prepare for battle!

-New Mombasa? Aren't they creative at all? There are other big cities, but they chose New Mombasa? They have a really bad taste in cities.

-Johnson, shut up.

-I love you too, Miranda. What should I do at New Mombasa?

-Clean the city, kill every hostile you see. Good Luck, Miranda out.

She shuts the call down before Johnson could say anything. He looks to Chips and say:

-She finished the call in my face, can you believe that?

-How could someone do that with Rocky Balboa?!

-Chips, go to hell.

-Where are we going?

-New Mombasa.

-Why?

-To give a message to the Covenant.

-Message? Which message?

-The message is like this: Get the hell out of our planet or we kick your ass. You chose the option "get kicked in the ass".

Chips laugh a little bit and say:

-Let's deliver this message.


	4. Chapter 4- Reach

Chapter 4- Reach

-I need a weapon.

-You will receive a weapon, do not worry about that. Oh god, I almost forgot about one of the most important things of this mission. –says Lord Hood

-What did you forgot? –says Dutch

-When you find Chief, deliver her to him.

Lord Hood grab a disk and give to Buck. He is confused about what it is and asks to Lord Hood:

-What do you mean by "her"?

-She is an AI known as Cortana, one of the best AIs we have. Connect her to your communication system for now, she will be useful at Reach.

-Dad, why do we need to give Cortana to Chief? –asks Kenny

-That's confidential even for you, my son.

Buck connects Cortana to his communication system, in order to everyone in Buck's team can listen to her. She says in the communicator:

-I miss Chief's system architecture, it was so fun in there. The communication system's architecture is so boring and generic.

-Can we talk to her? –asks Romeo to Lord Hood

-Yes, you can. –replies Cortana

Suddenly, the station starts shaking and the lights start flashing. Dutch, scared, asks:

-What the hell is happening?

-It is a Covenant attack! Quickly, get to the cruiser's hangar and get in SS Normandy! –says Lord Hood

-Sir, yes sir! –says all the ODSTs, less the Rookie

They run to the cruiser's hangar and get in the cruiser as fast as they can. They hear a voice saying:

-WARNING! WARNING! Move to your defense positions. This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill!

-Things are messy over there, thank god we won't be on this war! –says Kenny to the team

-What makes you think that things are better in Reach? –asks Buck

Kenny tries to say something, but he gives up and remain silent. They hear a loud noise coming from outside the cruiser. It shakes a little bit and gets out of the station. The ODST team goes to the control room to meet with the pilots. When they get there, they see Lord Hood and a lot of pilots. All the ODSTs are confused, Kenny asks to Lord Hood:

-Dad? What are you doing here? You're supposed to defend the station!

-Cairo Station is compromised, we're taking you to Reach.

Cortana says to Buck in the communication system:

-Ask him if he activated the cannons before he left the station.

-Sir, did you activate the station cannons before you left? –asks Buck to Lord Hood

-Oh no…I forgot about that.

-Damn! - shouts Cortana in the communication system- Maybe Johnson can be there, I have to make some calls.

Suddenly, the cruiser shakes a lot and they make a slip-space jump. When SS Normandy stops shaking, everyone look at the windows and see Reach. Lord Hood look to the ODSTs and say:

-Soldiers, it is time to act. Grab a pelican in the pelican hangar and get out of here. When you find Chief, Cortana will contact us immediately. Good luck, you will need it.

-Sir, yes sir! –shouts all the ODSTs less the Rookie

Buck starts hearing a phone ringing noise inside the communication system. Someone answers this call and say:

-What do you want, Cortana?

-How did you…whatever, I need you to do something. –says Cortana to this person.

-I'm trying to get my ass out of this station. What do you want?

-You need to activate the station's cannons. Lord Hood already left and forgot about the cannons. I'm not in the station, I'm in Reach with some ODSTs.

-You are making things worse for me, lady.

-If you don't activate those cannons, things will be worse to everyone in the planet.

The ODSTs enter in the pelican and start it up. Cortana starts loosing signal and say to this person that she is talking to in the communicator:

-If you don't activate those cannons, things will be worse to everyone in the planet. I'm losing my signal, Johnson.

-Cortana, I don't know, what if don't work?

-Just do it!

She loses complete signal of Johnson and says to Buck:

-I hope he do it, otherwise, the Covenant will take our planet.

They start driving the pelican to Reach, more precisely, to the exact place where the UNSC found Chief's signal. They enter the planet's atmosphere. Suddenly, a Wraith shot hits the pelican, making him fall in the ground. It crashes on the ground, making everyone inside of it pass out. When they wake up, the first thing they do is try to open the door. Everyone push the pelican's door and just open half of it. Mickey says to everyone:

-Hey everyone, don't forget to grab your weapons. I don't want to see anyone in the danger, alright?

-Alright. –says everyone less the Rookie

Buck checks how far they are from the place they were heading to. He says to everyone:

-We're not far from our objective. We will have to go through a city called Hope. Just stay down and don't make a noise, otherwise, it will be harder for us to get back home in piece.

When they leave the pelican, they see the fog covering everything up. They're in a swamp, full of trees. The team walk slowly and quietly, trying to hide from any hostiles. Suddenly, an Elite shows up next to the team and shouts in front of Mickey. He screams and fall on the ground, the rest of the team pull their guns out and aim at the Elite. He puts his hands in the air and say to the ODSTs:

-I surrender.

They keep aiming at him, waiting for his movement. Suddenly, he shouts and a lot of Jackals with shields appears behind the team. Everyone looks and aims their guns to the Jackals, in this moment, the Elite pulls his energy sword out and runs for Mickey. Buck, Dutch, Rookie and Kenny start shooting at the Jackals, while Romeo and Mickey deal with the Elite. Mickey shoots the Elite with his submachine-gun, but it doesn't make any effect. A Jackal charge his plasma pistol and shoots it at Dutch, paralyzing him. Kenny runs and kick this Jackal's face. Buck stands in front of Dutch, in order to protect him from any other plasma shots. The Elite stabs Mickey's left leg, making him unable to walk for now. While Mickey screams in pain, Romeo shoots the Elite's head with a sniper, killing him instantly. Buck, Kenny and Rookie kill what's left of the Jackals. After this insane moment, everyone takes a minute to breathe. Mickey starts screaming out loud and he falls on the ground. Romeo, Buck and Rookie helps Mickey, while Kenny helps Dutch. Mickey says to Buck:

-Oh my god! Why me? Why? Oh no! I can see the light! It is coming for me! I can see my mother and my father calling my name! Buck, I'm not going to make it, I'm dying! Goodbye, everyone.

-Mickey…shut up. –says Buck, while he grabs a dose of morphine.

-Should I be an actor? After this war is over.

-You already are. –says Romeo, sarcastically.

Buck injects a dose of morphine in his leg. He injects other kinds of medicine, put a bandage over his leg and asks:  
-Can you stand up?

Mickey slowly stands up, he almost falls, but he can walk. They keep walking through this swamp. They start hearing the sounds of thunders and the fog starts getting lower. The finally get to this city called Hope. The city is in ruins, the buildings are half-destroyed and the skeletons are on the ground, untouched. The cars are rusty and destroyed, the thunders noise gets louder and closer, the wind gets stronger and the fog disappears. The team walks slowly and carefully, trying to make less noise as possible. A human gun noise can be heard, not far away from where the team is. Romeo says:

-What the hell was that? I just heard an assault rifle shot noise…maybe I'm crazy.

-No, you're not crazy. We all heard that noise. –says Dutch

-Who do you think that gave that shot?

-I don't know. Probably is some kind of Resistance or something like that.

-Resistance? In Reach? I don't think a Resistance would survive in Reach. It is obviously not a Resistance.

-Maybe it is Chief. –says Cortana

Mickey puts one of his hands in his left ear and say:

-Isn't there a mute button for you, robot?

-I'm not a robot, I'm an advanced AI.

-Yeah, whatever, it's the same thing.

-It isn't. Now can you shut up and follow your mission quietly? –says Buck

-Sir, yes sir. –says Mickey, sarcastically.

They see an Elite and a Brute arguing with each other, not far from where they are. Buck hides behind a broken car and makes a sign to the team to hide with him. Everyone looks to the two hostiles and Kenny says:

-Is that a Brute? They are way higher in real life!

-I thought they were small King Kongs –says Mickey

-What do you think they are arguing about? –asks Romeo

-I don't know, but it is getting pretty ugly. –says Buck

The Brute and the Elite start pushing themselves, until the Elite pulls an energy sword out and threatens the Brute with it. Both stare at each other with anger. Buck makes a sign and everyone pulls out their weapons. The Rookie runs to the Elite and punch him, making him faint instantly. The Brute shouts, pulls out his plasma rifle and aims at Rookie. Everyone else open fire against the Brute, which dies quickly. Everyone stares Rookie, confused about what happened. Rookie looks to everyone and says:  
-What are you looking at?

Mickey, Romeo and Dutch start celebrating and screaming, Mickey shouts:  
-HE SAID HIS FIRST WORD! OH MY GOD! BUCK, DID YOU WROTE THOSE FIRST WORDS? THEY ARE IMPORTANT, YOU KNOW?

-HEY IDIOTS, SHUT UP! You're going to call unwanted attention. He said his first word, I know how impressive this is, but we celebrate it later, not now. –says Buck

Dutch, Mickey and Romeo stop screaming and celebrating. The team keeps walking through the devastated city of Hope. They finally get to the exact spot where Lord Hood received Master Chief's signal. It is a dead-end, a giant wall. Buck says:

-There is nothing here, that's it, let's go home.

-Are you giving up that quick? Hell no, we should wait. Maybe he will show up. –says Kenny

-I don't like him, but he has a point. –says Romeo

-No, he doesn't. –says Buck

When he turns around, he sees an ambush of Elites, waiting for them. They are holding their plasma rifles, aiming at the humans. When the rest of the team turns around, Buck says:  
-Idiots. Your stupid celebration led to our death.

-We're not dying. We should attack them, we are in bigger number, and there is only five of them. –says Mickey

One of the Elites says to team:

-Drop your weapons or die!

Buck put his gun in the ground and look to the rest of the team, hoping they do the same. Suddenly, a grenade blows up in the exact spot where the Elites were. Buck quickly grab his weapon back. When the explosion fog gets lower, they see Master Chief with an assault rifle shooting the remaining Elites. The team gets closer to him and they ask:  
-Master Chief, are you alright?

-Isn't that what I am supposed to ask? –replies Chief, while shooting some Elites

-I am sorry, we didn't introduce ourselves… -says Buck

-We don't have time to introductions! Quick, follow me.

Chief starts running through the city, dodging any kinds of plasma shots. The team follows him, but not as fast as him. Two hunters let Chief go, but blocks the team. One of the hunters hits Dutch with its shield, making him fly away. Kenny and Buck join their forces to kill one of the hunters. The other hunter shoots his plasma cannon directly in Romeo's chest, making him fall on the ground. Mickey grabs Romeo's sniper and shoot at one of the Hunter's face. With both hunters dead, the team get around Romeo's body. Mickey says, desperately:

-HELP HERE! Buck and Rookie, help me carry Romeo.

-What happened? –asks Kenny

-He got shot in the chest by one of those disgusting worms in armors. His lungs are compromised. If he doesn't get immediate medical assistance, he won't make it. Now, help me carrying him. –says Mickey.

Chief shows up, grab Romeo's body, starts carrying it and says:

-Let's go, I found a signal of a Resistance community near to Hope.

Everyone runs behind Chief, trying to ignore all the Covenant troops that are coming in their way. They run through a giant and burned forest, until they find some houses made with cardboard and burnt wood. There is a medium-sized wall made of bricks around this community and a gateway made of aluminum. Chief hits it with a strong punch. A voice can be heard behind it:

-Who is it?

-This is Spartan 117 aka Master Chief. We have an injured soldier, which needs immediate medical assistance.

-What do you think that will make us believe in you? You're probably an Elite or a Brute. –says the voice behind the gateway

-If I were an Elite or a Brute, I would have already taken down this gateway and tried to kill you.

This is followed by silence, they don't hear an answer or anything. Suddenly, they hear an unlocking padlock sound and the gateway opens. A woman holding an old assault rifle version. She looks to Chief and says:  
-Come in, the medic is all the way across the community.

Chief runs inside the community, while the team walks through it, analyzing the place. It is a poor community, it is really big, but poor. A black man with a dragon tattoo in his face and a giant Mohawk, looks to the ODSTs and make a comment:

-What are those filthy UNSC soldiers doing in such a nice place like this? You aren't welcome here! Who let you in?

Dutch stops walking, stare the black man and says:  
-It is not of your business, asshole.

The man pulls out a crowbar, gets closer to Dutch and says:

-It is of my business, and if you're not telling me the easy way, then I'll have to make you say in the hard way.

The man hits Dutch with his crowbar. Dutch falls on the ground and tries to grab his weapon, but the man won't let him. He starts hitting Dutch with his crowbar several times, until Mickey shows up and starts punching the man's face. He tries to attack Mickey, but he holds the man's hand and gives him a header. He falls on the ground, unconscious, and Mickey helps Dutch to get on his feet and keep walking. Chief stops in front of a little house with a big sign written "Medical clinic". Chief opens this house's door and puts Romeo's body in a medical bed. The medic shows up behind Chief, he is an Indian-American man with a white coat. He looks to Chief and ask:

-Welcome to the community, stranger. Could you tell me what happened to your friend there?

-A hunter used his plasma cannon against his chest.

-Oh god…he is breathing hardly and heavily, that could mean that his lungs are compromised. I can fix him, but this will take a while, some days maybe. As this is your first time in the community, this medical assistance will be for free.

-Isn't there a faster way?

-There is, but if it goes wrong, your friend's lungs will be destroyed and he will die. Are you sure you want to try it?

-Yes, I'm sure.

-Then you're free to go. I will warn you when he is better and ready to go. Have a nice day.

The medic pulls out a purple syringe and inserts it in Romeo's chest. He falls asleep in the medical bed. Chief gets out of the medical clinic and see a lot of people gathering around. He follows everyone and see Mickey and Dutch fighting everyone from the community. Chief gets close to them and stop the fight. An elder woman wearing a white military uniform shows up and says:

-ODSTs, follow me.

She walks to a bigger house with a large sign written "town hall". There is some guards with old versions of the assault rifle guarding this house. Chief and the team get inside this house, it is a big room, with red lights, a desk in the middle of it and a chair where this woman is sitting at. She starts talking:

-Gentleman, what are you doing in here?

-We needed medical assistance for our friend and we found this community. –says Buck

-So why are you attacking our people?

-We weren't attacking those idiots, they attacked us! –says Mickey

-Do you even know who we are?

-A group of jerks? –says Mickey

-We are the Raiders of Reach. We are former rebels against the UNSC dictatorship that survived the Fall of Reach. We were friendly to the point of letting you in this community, but now you started to attack our people and even worse…you have an UNSC AI with you.

-What is she talking about, boy? –asks Chief to Buck

-We brought Cortana, to you.

-This is considered treason and sabotage, the sentence to this is death.

-Try to. –says Chief, which pulls out an assault rifle.

-NOW! –shouts the elder woman.

Coming from behind of them, a female Spartan shows up and aim an assault rifle to his head. She drops her weapon and say, surprised:

-Chief? Is that you?

He looks behind and he also gets surprised. He drops his weapon and stare in this Spartan's face. The elder woman, confused and angry, says:  
-What are you waiting for! KILL HIM!

Dutch punches this woman's face, knocking her out. After a moment looking to each other, Chief and the Spartan hug each other. Chief asks:  
-How?

-I don't know, I just survived. It didn't kill me.

-Can someone explain what is happening? –asks Buck

-She survived…-says Chief

-Who is she? –asks Kenny

-Linda. She survived.

Everyone leaves the house, less Rookie, which stays inside and makes a call to a stranger. This stranger answers the call and says:

-So?

-We found him. When the time is right, I'll do it.

-Great. Don't screw this up.

-I won't.


	5. Chapter 5- Heretic

Chapter 5- Heretic

-What would you have your Arbiter do?

-In the remains of the sacred ring, a "demon" created a Heretic Army. He deluded them with foolish lies. Now he leads an army against the Covenant and we must take it down as fast as possible. If we don't do it now, he will be as big as us. What's your plan, Arbiter?

-My plan is making this "demon" regret.

-Regret what? –asks Truth

-Regret living.

-Great. Tomorrow, there will be a phantom waiting for you.

Thel kneels for the prophets and says:

-I won't fail you this time.

-It's better you don't.

He stands up and leaves the room.

In the next day, Thel is waiting at the spaceport, where he gets in a red phantom. In there, he sees a lot of soldiers wearing white armors. There are Grunts, Elites and Jackals. They start whispering to each other, while Thel walks inside the phantom. He stops and sits in his seat, waiting for the trip to start. There is an Elite sitting next to him, surprised, this one asks:

-What are you doing here, heretic? You were supposed to be dead! You can only be a ghost!

-I am a ghost to every sin you have committed in your life. –answers Thel

The Elite is speechless, he doesn't know how to answer it. The phantom starts flying. After some hours, an Ultra Elite shows up in the soldier's area and starts talking:

-When we joined the Covenant, we took an oath!

All the soldiers say together:

-According to our station! All without exception!

This Ultra Elite starts walking among the Special Ops Soldiers. He says:

-On the blood of our fathers, on the blood of our sons…we swore to uphold the Covenant!

-Even to our dying breath! –says all the soldiers

-Those who would break this oath are Heretics, worthy of neither pity, nor mercy! Even now they use our lords' creations to broadcast their lies! –says the Ultra Elite

-We shall grind them into dust! –says all the soldiers

-And continue our march to glorious salvation! –says the Ultra Elite

He walks among the soldiers and stops when he is front of Thel. They stare at each other and the Ultra Elite says:

-This armor suits you. But it cannot hide the mark of shame.

Thel remembers Tartarus hitting him with a hot iron hammer, creating a mark on Thel's chest. He says to the Ultra Elite:  
-Nothing ever will.

-You are the Arbiter, the will of the Prophets. But these are my Elites. Their lives matter to me. Yours does not.

-That makes two of us.–says Thel.

The Ultra Elite looks with respect to Thel. He stops looking at him and hears what the pilot says:

-Leader, there is no doubt: the storm will strike the facility!

-We'll be long gone before it strikes the facility.

Thel looks to one of the Special Ops Elite soldier and asks:

-Who is he?

-He is Rtas 'Vadumee, our great and fair leader, something that you aren't and will never be.

-I know.

The Phantom door opens, all the soldiers stand up and grab their weapons. Thel stands up and grab a carbine and an energy sword. Rtas shouts to all the soldiers:

-Warriors, prepare for combat!

Everybody jumps off the phantom. They are in the back from a gigantic forerunner facility. They change their armor color to black. They run to a small door, where one of the Grunts pulls out a plasma battery and connects it to the door. Rtas gets close to Thel and says:

-We are the arm of the Prophets, Arbiter, and you are the blade. Be silent and swift, and we shall quell this heresy without incident.

After a couple of seconds, the door opens. They get inside the facility. They are in a small decontamination area. Rtas says to all the soldiers:  
-The storm has masked our approach, and it should have their local Battle-net in disarray. We have the element of surprise...for now.

They hear the sound of decontamination. A robotic voice can be heard:

-initializing decontamination...No parasites detected. Removing any kinds of bacteria. Decontamination complete.

Another door opens, now leading to the facility. They see some Heretic Elites out there, talking to each other. Rtas whisper to all the soldiers:

-Engage active camouflage!

Everyone press a button in their armors and turn invisible. Rtas sees that the Arbiter didn't activate his camouflage, yet. He gets close to him and whispers:

-You may wish to do the same, Arbiter, but take heed: your armor's system is not as... _new_ as ours. Your camouflage will not last forever. You may go first. We will attack as soon as you join the battle.

Thel press a button on his armor and he turns invisible. He quickly gets close to the Heretic Elites. He listens to them:

-…He thought our leader was dead. So he just left him there, with a hole in his belly.

-Are you serious? Did our leader really survived an energy sword attack?

-Yes, at least that is what I've heard.

Suddenly, Thel stabs one of the heretic Elites from behind with an energy sword. The other one pulls out a plasma rifle, but Thel quickly runs and stab this Elite. Thel makes a sign to Rtas and his group. They turn off their invisibility and start checking the area. They are in a blacksmithing room. There are Sentinels producing armors for the heretic warriors. Surprised, a Spec Ops Elite says:  
-Why such holy instruments as the Sentinels are working with the heretics?

-Probably they found out a way to hack into Forerunner technology. The presence of the Sentinels give us an important information about them. –says Rtas

-What information? –asks Thel

-The heretics have forerunner technology on their side, they may have holy weapons such as the Sentinel Beam or a Forerunner energy sword. Their armors may contain forerunner technology as well, which will give them a slight advantage, but nothing we can't deal with. I have a plan. Wear those armors, we're disguising ourselves as heretics.

-I refuse to dress myself as a heretic, if I do this, I'll betray my own honor! –says a Spec Ops Soldier

-This is not an option, soldier! You either dress yourself as a heretic or you leave this building and die. Does anyone else have a complaint? –shouts Rtas

Nobody says anything

-As I guessed. H urry up you filthy maggots, are you Spec Ops Soldiers or Humans?

Rtas gets close to Thel and says to him:

-Thel, we have a mission that is a bit different from yours. That means that you won't need to take your armor off.

-Wait, you're telling me that your mission isn't murdering the heretic's leader?

-Yes, that's what I'm trying to say. Our mission is to cover your back while you accomplish your mission. You shall go first. Here, take this virtual map of this installation. Good luck, Arbiter, you'll need it.

Thel grabs this map and looks into the confusing maze that this installation is. He studies it and tries to decorate it. He asks to Rtas:

-Where is the heretic leader supposed to be? Which room?

-He's on a room called LB-5332.

-How do you know that?

-The Brutes decided to scan this place before we moved in. They found heat signatures all over the place, but he found a heat signature on this room that is always alone. It may be the leader, we don't know, but you should check it out.

-That's the first time a Brute uses his brain.

-Thel, do you smell this?

-What?!

-I don't know. It is a strong stench although.

-Oh no… I know what this smell is. Rtas, get your troops moving as fast they can.

-What is it? Why the hurry?

-Believe me, it will be better if I don't tell you.

Thel starts running. He uses the virtual map to walk through the installation, which is very similar to a maze. He is running in the shadows, he strategically used his invisible camouflage in order to get through heretic guards without calling their attention. Thel finally gets in front of the door that leads to the LB-5332. He looks behind and sees lots of dead heretic corpses, all over the floor, but the murderer isn't there to see what he has done. Thel opens the door that leads to the room and sees a strange figure sitting on a throne. This figure wears a hood that covers its face in black, it also wears a robe that extends itself through the room. It is a large room, with a big window that shows the remains of installation 04. There is a big spaceship in the room, is neither a pelican nor a phantom, it is something completely new. The room has two floors, in the first level there is the spaceship and the throne, in the second level, there is a kind of personal arsenal. The hooded figure says:

-The prophets found a new Arbiter? What kind of treason have you committed?

Thel, surprised, says:

-I spared a human's life.

-I'm guessing you were really important…a fleet commander maybe?

-How do you know about me? –asks Thel, angrily.

-Every Arbiter is a traitor, seeking an unreachable redemption. The prophets manipulate them in order to please their wishes, if they do it, their payment is their lives, if they don't do it, they die. Simple as that.

-Your lies won't manipulate me, heretic! Surrender now or you'll suffer the consequences!

-Heretic? Good joke. I'll tell you a secret. I am no heretic.

-What?!

-I have the same goals as the Covenant, but we see it in another way.

-Explain yourself, heretic.

-My main goal is to activate the Halo, activate your "sacred ring", but we see the Halo in a different way than you do. Your goal is to go to the "Great Journey", mine goal is to terminate the Flood, which is a disease that is spreading through the galaxy. The Covenant has a specific religion, but we don't, that's why I gathered up a lot of species, because I offered them freedom, they didn't have to follow a specific religion, they could believe in whatever they want. But as the prophets manipulate you, I manipulate my people, because I offer them freedom and a beautiful galaxy, but in the end there will be only ashes and dust.

-You are a monster.

-No Arbiter, the Flood is a monster, a monster that must be stopped at all cost.

-If you are no heretic, so why did the prophets send me to kill you?

-That's simple, Arbiter. You see, I'm bigger than the Covenant, my armies outnumber your armies and we have a technological advantage. The prophets can see that, so they've decided to throw their best warriors into a suicidal mission in order to take my group down. They have manipulated you, Arbiter, all they seek is power and nothing more. They'll do anything in order to gain more power.

-You disgust me with your heretic words, you either shut your mouth or I'll go there and shut it for you.

The hooded figure stands up and starts staring at the Arbiter. He takes off its hood and it is a known figure…it is Sam, the Spartan that tried to kill Master Chief inside the installation 04. He takes off his robe and he is wearing an advanced armor. His helmet shines as the sun does. He looks to Thel and says:

-Come and shut me up then.

Thel starts running and tries to punch Sam, but he quickly dodges this attack and laughs. He says:  
-Is this the best you can do? If I wanted to, I would have already taken you down.

Thel punches him in the face, throwing all of his anger and disgust on that punch. Sam falls on the ground and starts getting up, slowly. He grabs Thel by the neck and throws him all the way across the room. He slowly walks to Thel's body. Sam starts throwing lots of punches in his face. Thel spits some blood and remains lying on the ground. Sam, feeling victorious, says:

-Do you smell that? That's the smell of victo…oh no.

-What is it, heretic?

-That stench…I've smelled it before.

Sam stands up, put his right foot on Thel's neck and grabs his Forerunner energy sword. There is a knocking on the front door, there are lots of things hitting the front door. Sam says:

-We must get out of here, Master.

Suddenly, from the second floor, 343 Guilty Spark shows up. He answers:

-Then let me do my package.

-There is no time, master. They have found us and they're on the other side of this door. Get inside the spaceship, we're leaving right now!

While Sam talks to 343 Guilty Spark, Thel grabs Sam's right leg and throw him next to the throne. He runs and start throwing punches at Sam's helmet. The Monitor gets inside the spaceship and watches the fight. Sam holds Thel's fists and throws a strong punch on his face. They get a little bit far from each other and both of them pull an energy sword, Thel pulls out a regular energy sword and Sam pulls out a Yellow Forerunner energy sword. They keep staring at each other. They start running to each other. Both of them try to attack each other, but their energy swords end up meeting each other. Sam quickly pulls out a plasma rifle and shoots Thel in the chest. He falls on the ground, feeling weak and dizzy. Sam quickly gets in the spaceship and turn it on. The big window opens and both Sam and the Monitor leave the facility in the spaceship. The storm is strong enough to push everything on the room. The front door where Thel came from, opens and an infected Elite comes out of it. It runs for Thel, who desperately tries to get up and fight. He is not fast enough and the Infected Elite throws him on the ground. Thel tries to pull the monster out, but it is stronger than him. The tentacles of the Flood parasite in the Infected Elite's head starts touching at Thel's face. Suddenly, he hears a plasma rifle sound and the monster goes silent. When he looks there is a giant hole at the Flood's chest. He looks to the front door and sees Rtas with a plasma rifle on the right hand and trying to reach out for Thel with the left hand. Confused, he asks to Rtas:

-Why you came here?

-You may be a heretic, but I leave no soldier behind. Come on, I planted a bomb at this installation's core, my team is waiting inside a phantom. We should hurry, otherwise the Flood will outnumber us.

-You lead the way.

They start moving to what seems to be a big maze. There are dead Elite bodies all over the ground and blood all over the walls. A green fog starts filling the area, they hear the sound of something moving, something big. While they keep moving, Rtas asks:

-So, have you killed him?

-No, he escaped. The Oracle is on his side. He is not just a heretic.

-The Oracle is on his side? Such holy device follows such blind demon. We have to find him and take him down. And what do you mean by "he is not just a heretic"?

-After Reach, we were told that only one has survived, the Master Chief demon.

-Yes, we were there, but we didn't kill any of them.

-It is a lie. There is one more and he is the heretic leader.

-Arbiter, don't play on service, this is serious.

-I've never been more serious. He has the holy energy sword, the support of the Oracle and he has the same goal as we have.

-So he is on our side?

-Not exactly. He doesn't understand our gods, he thinks that their creations are more significant then themselves.

The fog gets stronger and stronger. Thel sees a little green tentacle creeping around the floor. A deep voice can be heard saying:

" _You are the only remains of this empty grave, join me or you will suffer the consequences."_

Rtas, terrified, looks to Thel and asks:

-Tell me I'm crazy, but have you just heard a deep voice talking to us?

-This is definitively not good. Rtas…RUN!

A horde of Infected Elites and little Floods are following Thel and Rtas. Both start running as fast as possible. The deep voice keeps talking:

" _Stop running, you won't find any light at the end of the tunnel you are following, you will only find certain death. The sooner you stop the faster and the painless you'll die."_

The fogs gets so strong that they can barely see each other. They find themselves in a dead end. Thel looks to Rtas and says:

-Rtas, use all your guns and ammo to keep this horde away from us! And tell your team to pick us up were we are. I have a plan.

-On the way.

He pulls out a plasma rifle and starts shooting at the horde with the right hand, while he talks through a communication device with his team. Thel pulls out a plasma grenade and plants it at the dead end wall. It blows up and a beautiful sun can be seen. Rtas says:

-I'm running out of ammo!

Suddenly, from the way out opened by Thel, a phantom shows up with the Spec Ops Soldiers in it. Both Thel and Rtas quickly jump to the phantom and hold at the hands of the soldiers. They pull them both inside the phantom and leave the installation. A few seconds later, the Installation blows up. Rtas shouts for the soldiers:

-Today, we congratulate not only our survival, but our victory as well.

All the soldiers shout:

-HOORAY!

Thel keeps looking at the remains of the installation. Rtas gets close to him and says:

-Calm down my friend, it is over now.

-No. I think we're just getting started.


End file.
